Vacation Homes

Outdoor furniture expert Andrew Bockner unwinds at the cottage

The overnight bed is big enough for team lounging.

Photograph by: Handout photo
, Andrew Richard Designs

If you happen to hit Walker Lake in Muskoka on certain weekends, you may just see a floating living room trundling by. Kitted out in cushy furniture, there goes a couch, a pair of chaises longues and a fridge stocked with drinks - if only Gilligan's friends had had a raft like this.

The loot is Andrew Bockner's. He's the purveyor and designer of fine outdoor furniture, Andrew Richard Designs (ARD), in Toronto, whose creations can be found in the city's Hazelton Hotel and Elleven, among other places, as well as international resorts.

"What's special about my lake is you can't have big motorized boats, so we have a 20x30foot motorized dock," Mr. Bockner says over the phone from his west-end showroom. "So we roll around the lake in this barge outfitted in high-end sofas and chairs. The whole family gets in there under the umbrella on the Tranquility bed [a generous lounger made by ADR]." He laughs, "Two years ago, when I was setting up my cottage, my neighbour asked me if I was preparing for a wedding."

To Mr. Bockner, decorating the great outdoors is every bit as important as the indoors - why be in nature if you're cooped up inside?

Two years ago, he bought his 2,200-square-foot woodsy dwelling, where he and his wife, Melissa, and their twoyear-old daughter, Avery, unwind and entertain friends. "The cottage came with a 1,500-sq.-ft. deck, which was a huge selling feature," he notes. He also liked that the land looked like the sticks - there were no fancy pathways or embellishments; rather, the rocky ground was blanketed in crunchy hemlock leaves and moss and gently sloped towards the water.

"We had been renting the cottage for two seasons, and we fell in love with it," Mr. Bockner says. "We felt like it already belonged to us."

Naturally, as a shop owner of fine furniture, his first bit of handiwork was to glam the deck. "I've got six different hanging-out zones," Mr. Bockner boasts. "There's a 20-foot sofa, club chairs, a picnic table, a hammock, a shady nook for reading. I really like userfriendly furnishings and tons of seating options." Sightlines are also key: "Anything looking down at the water is nice."

Mr. Bockner's Muskoka chairs, for instance, always face the lake, with its beatic forest of pines and hemlocks in the distance. The chairs may seem a touch traditional for a trendsetter whose new summer collection includes Tribeca, a white sectional with tangerine pillows. But these Muskoka chairs have been tweaked, he explains. "This is more of a refined version. They have softer, slender arms, and are made of reclaimed teak." (If you are partial to modern shapes, ADR makes a killer boxy lounge chair with teak slats and stainless steel as part of its Silouette line.)

Back on the subject of decks, Mr. Bockner explains that you don't need a large space to create a sanctuary. If quarters are tight, he recommends a communal, deep-seating piece, such as a sectional. This does doubleduty as a place to lounge or eat dinner (and, let's be honest, it provides a fun excuse to scoot closer to your neighbour).

"Sectionals are very versatile," he says. "You can break up the pieces and play with the layout. Cushioned boxes are also great because they're multi-functional. They can be used as an extra bench, console or coffee table."

And feel free to jumble it up for an eclectic look. "You rarely see matched sets in living rooms, so why do it here?" Mr. Bockner asks. "Have fun and create interest. I love putting teak with stainless steel and woven material. It's really prominent in Sofitel and Harrison, two of my collections."

Mr. Bockner points out the renewed interest in colourful outdoor furnishings this year. "I did the large bed on the barge in bright green and white stripes, which is not what I'd normally do. But the outdoors is perfect for showing hot pink, purple and tangerine."

Indeed, Pantone's Tangerine Tango - the it hue for 2012 - seems to be everywhere, on runways and in rooms, and now on fine outdoor furniture. Funny to think there was a time when a flimsy plastic patio set and collapsible chairs with drink holders sufficed.

To this Mr. Bockner responds, "What do you mean used to be? I have a friend who took me to her parents' beautiful cottage on Georgian Bay recently. There were six stacking monoblock chairs on the dock, and nobody knew what to do out there. It just wasn't comfortable," he says. "We ended up indoors in the Muskoka room."

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